Cricket Wellington chief executive Ervin McSweeney has had the delight and distinction to be present, in an official capacity, at both ends of his association's long Shell Trophy drought.

As captain, he led them to Trophy victory in the 1989/90 season and 11 years later, with slightly less hair but no less enthusiasm for the province, he presided over the ceremony at which the Trophy was presented to Wellington's new captain, Matthew Bell, at the Basin Reserve today.

It's now the desire of the passionate Wellingtonian to turn the success of this new and young Wellington championship team into something strong and lasting, something to be admired by other associations and to contribute to the success of all New Zealand cricket.

McSweeney believes Wellington could be on the verge of something important and lasting if it can keep together the talented squad which succeeded this season, can fully harness their talent and can build on Wellington's development in other areas.

For the first time in several seasons, Wellington has enjoyed conspicuous success at age-group level this year, winning the national under-17 title and coming close to a matching success at under-19 level. McSweeney believes the strength of the capital's selection and development programmes could underpin the success of the Trophy team for year's to come.

But there was also great personal delight in being involved with Wellington's last two Trophy successes.

"Obviously, it's a real thrill coinciding with my short term in office so far [as chief executive]," McSweeney said.

"I'm delighted. At the start of every season we hope the team performs and does well and now we make no secret of the fact we want to go on from here and become a powerhouse in New Zealand cricket.

"If we're doing a good job and producing good players and champion teams it must make for better things for New Zealand cricket overall.

"Hopefully this is the start of something good and it's not just one swallow in a single summer."

McSweeney paid lavish tribute to Wellington's coach Vaughn Johnson and their first-season captain Matthew Bell but he highlighted the way in which the success depended on contributions from all players.

"To have a champion team, you need to have a couple of individuals who have outstanding seasons and other guys who provide a variety of important cameos, whether it's a vital wicket or a 50-run partnership somewhere," McSweeney said. "That's what we had this season.

"And this team can easily develop further. These guys are at very early stages of their cricket careers but from here on they can look at themselves as performers.

"There have been great contributions from Matthew Bell and Richard Jones and Andrew Penn has been outstanding and very unfairly treated by the national selectors. He's been the Trojan who has allowed Iain O'Brien to succeed at the other end.

"The whole thing has been great for us as an association and I hope the followers of Wellington cricket will take some pleasure from it."

© CricInfo